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I made a mistake with Fubara, Wike slams Governor’s camp

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The Minister of the Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said backing Governor Siminalayi Fubara was a mistake he would correct at the appropriate time.

The FCT Minister insisted he made mistakes in his judgement of Fubara and asked the people of the LGA and political family to forgive him.

He said at the appropriate time they would correct the mistake insisting that he would continue to make his detractors angry so they would keep making mistakes.

Wike said: ” I want to say this clearly, in life we have made a mistake. I have made a mistake. I own it up and I say God forgive me. I have said all of you forgive me. But we will correct it at the appropriate time. I am a human, I am bound to make a mistake. So forgive me for making a wrong judgement. So nobody should kill”.

He also responded to some developments and actions from the camp of Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara, on the ongoing political crisis in the State.

Wike spoke on Saturday at the grand Civic reception held at Ogu-Bolo in honour of Chief George Thompson Sekibo to celebrate his 20 years of service at the National and 36 years of his life in public service.

The former Rivers Governor told Fubara’s camp that no injunctions obtained at 2am or 4am would stop the law and due process from taking its course in the state.

“If they like they can go to anybody by 2am or 4am to get injunction. The law will take its course. We must follow due process,” Wike said.

Reacting to Fubara’s remarks that he would not worship anybody, Wike said he had never asked anybody to worship him.

He said: “It is not easy to be a public officer and the people decide to honour you. Let me thank the Ogu council of chiefs and the entire community who insisted that their son should be honoured.

“You have refused politics to divide you. It shows that you have the interest of your community in mind. I came because I respect people, who appreciate what God has used people to do for them.

“God uses people to help others. So when you have been helped, you appreciate them. God will know you have appreciated him. Nobody can worship man. All of us believe that it is only God we will worship.

“As politicians we appreciate people who have helped us. When I came to ask you to support me, you supported me. Did I worship you? Did I ask you to worship me. If you had not supported me, I would not have been where I am. Did you tell me to worship you? So where does the issue of worship come from?”

Most political associates of Wike such as Senator Magnus Abe; Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Dr. Samuel Ogbuku; NDDC Director, Finance and Administration, Boma Iyayi, House of Assembly members, local government chairmen, senators among others attended the event

Wike told the lawmakers not to be afraid saying nobody would remove them as assembly members.

*Don’t be afraid nobody will remove you as a lawmaker. Most of you don’t understand. This is our work. Our business is to make them to fear. That is what I am doing. We will make them to be angry everyday and they will continue to make mistakes”.

The former Governor said he would continue to maintain peace in the state and called on his supporters to pursue peace.

He said: “So don’t worry yourselves. We won’t give money to anybody to go and buy arms to kill anybody. I have maintained peace and I want to beg all you to continue to maintain peace. Nobody will tell me that I can’t live in my house or go to my house. But all of you should maintain the peace. Follow law and sue process..we will get to the end

“As you see me I stand straight. I think well. I came with senator Magnus Abe. I work with people that have brains. On politics, when people with brains agree they disagree. Those, who don’t know what to do but said they would bring me down, who born them? They are nowhere. When you are in charge, you are in charge.

“Everything will calm down. All these people running around, they would come down. Boma worked for his appointment, he showed loyalty and commitment and that is why God placed him there. Don’t worry.

“Let me also advised you, forget about how they abuse us. You must be alive for people to abuse you. If you are dead, will they abuse you? At the appropriate time when the results will be announced, we will know who is who. We have defeated them severally.

“Some.of them ran to Abuja but when I went to Abuja, they ran back here. Have you not seen the way Abuja is moving? No amount of propaganda can help you. Ogu people have shown loyalty and I want to thank you”.

Reflecting on his political journey, Wike said: “In 2014 to 2015, we didn’t have anybody. I came here and you said you would work for it and you worked for it. We had nobody in government. Did we not win? What are you afraid of?

“While in a government I had a problem, I had a federal government that was hostile to me, did we not succeed? They are giving excuses. If you know you. When somebody cannot do something, say you cannot do it.

“At the appropriate time, people will speak of the projects in the state. They will tell you who did what. It is not people who come now and claim what they didn’t do. Ogu continue to support your people, your politicians have done well. Sekibo has done well.

“Don’t mind these buccaneers, I know how to handle them. Leave them for me..they have been my children. I will continue to handle them. Let’s work together”.

The former governor added: ” It is not easy to be in power and begin to give excuses. You continue to run away from promises you made to people. Look at all the council chairmen, the assembly members, these were people I spoke to for the interest of all of us.

“They all responded but today somebody said they are nobody. Will you accept that? Assembly people sat down in their various constituencies. You never brought a dime. I never knew you were rich that your father was a managing director of shell before and now you are paying their school fees. It is unfortunate.

“But Ogu people I will never abandon you. There are some chiefs I wanted to recognise as traditional rulers. Their people said no. But I dared it and I did it. Nobody bothered to recognise the traditional rulers from 1999 down to 2014. It was me that came and recognize most of them. I did what I did because it believed it was the right thing to do. It takes he who has the balls to talk.

“Now you said you are making them first class. Who made them second class and third class before you are making him first class? Be grateful to whatever God has given to you. Anywhere you are as a traditional ruler, check your conscience, who lifted you up. They said the list of caretaker committee was released but it was fake. Everything is fake with them”.

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US will stay in NATO, but it must be ‘stronger’, Marco Rubio tells his 31 counterparts

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Rubio at NATO © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reassured NATO allies of the US’ commitment to the military transatlantic alliance at his first meeting of NATO foreign affairs ministers, while recalling Donald Trump’s message that the European countries and Canada need to further increase defence spending.

“The United States President Trump’s made clear he supports NATO, we’re going to remain in NATO,” Rubio told reporters in Brussels, stressing that the US wants the alliance to be stronger against any potential threat.

“The only way NATO can get stronger and more viable is if our partners, the nation states that comprise this important alliance, have more capability,” he added.

The top US diplomat said he expects to leave Brussels with a clear commitment from allies to spend 5% of their GDP on defence—an increase from the current 2%, which some European countries, such as Belgium, Italy, and Spain, still fail to meet.

“I understand there’s domestic politics after decades of building up vast social safety net that maybe don’t want to take away from that and invest more in national security, but a full-scale ground war in the heart of Europe is a reminder that hard power is still necessary as a deterrent,” he said.

Rubio’s comments come after Donald Trump said last month that the US would not defend its allies unless they increased burden-sharing within the alliance. “It’s common sense, right,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office in early March. “If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them.”

The transatlantic alliance is currently assessing its capability gaps before committing to a new defence spending target, but a final figure is not expected until the annual NATO summit in June in The Hague.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stressed that European NATO members have recently committed to the largest increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War, though he agreed with the US that more must be done.

“It’s my assumption that what we need to spend, the Canadians and Europeans together, will be north of 3%,” the former Dutch prime minister said on his way in to the two-day meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers in Brussels.

Rubio stressed that raising defence spending to 5% cannot be done “in one year or two”, but the US now demands a real way forward from its allies to build a stronger NATO capable of defending its territories.

The NATO chief also warned that the global security threats facing the Alliance are increasingly interconnected and that the Russian threat will persist for many years.

“We are seeing what China is doing. We’re seeing how these two theatres, the inner Pacific and the Euro-Atlantic are getting more and more connected by the fact that the Russians are working together with the North Koreans, with the Chinese, with Iran, so we have to look at all these theatres in conjunction and that will be our focus,” he said.

European NATO members are also expecting clear messages or a roadmap from Rubio regarding the US withdrawal of troops from Europe, where around 100,000 American soldiers are stationed. However, the US secretary of state has not yet addressed the issue, and Rutte indicated that no immediate drawdown is planned.

“There are no plans for them (the US) to all of a sudden draw down their presence here in Europe, but we know that for America being the superpower they are they have to attend to more theatres than one,” Rutte said.

Some NATO members consider that the US could reduce its presence by some 20,000 to 50,000 troops.

The NATO secretary general acknowledged that the US has long sought to pivot its attention toward the Indo-Pacific but assured that it will be done “in a very coordinated manner.”

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Security: Abia govt to keep close watch on traditional rulers, confirms kidnap victim’s release

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Abia State government has again, warned traditional rulers in the state against harbouring criminals in their communities, saying that they would be placed under watch.

The warning was sounded at Government House Umuahia by the Commissioner for Information, Okey Kanu, on Wednesday, while briefing Journalists on the outcome of this week’s executive council meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti.

The State government also cautioned town union leaders to be vigilant and report all cases of suspicious movements involving criminal elements in their areas to security agents.

The Commissioner who disclosed that a popular businessman who was kidnapped in Ukwa East LGA a few weeks ago has been released, said that the State government would be using security agencies to beam light on all traditional rulers, to ascertain those who harbour criminals in their domains.

“As is usual with security matters, I may not want to go into details of what happened to the businessman, but the state government is advising Abians to remain vigilant. Town unions and traditional rulers must be alive to their duties of keeping watch over their domains.

“The state government is frowning seriously at this and the warning is that if you are caught in the act of harbouring criminals, you will be treated as one”, said Kanu.

He advised all commercial vehicle operators who have registered their vehicles in the ongoing registration policy to do so as strict enforcement of the initiative would soon start.

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Recall: INEC declares petition against Natasha inadequate

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Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan
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ABUJA: The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC on Thursday said the petition to recall the Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has not met the requirements of the constitution.

INEC in a tweet on its ‘X’ handle said; “The petition for the recall of the Senator representing the Kogi Central Senatorial District has not met the requirement of Section 69(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended)”.

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